Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler Narrator: Adenrele Ojo
on September 8, 2005
Genres: Vampires, Fantasy, Horror
Pages: 310
Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
Format: Audiobook
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Overal Rating:
Fledgling, Octavia Butler's new novel after a seven year break, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly inhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted - and still wants - to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.
I’m participating in a reading challenge with some friends, and I needed a book about vampires. I’m not really into the subject, so I decided to read Fledgling to have a perspective different than the traditional one about vampires. This is my third Butler book, and I was hopeful that it would be better than the other two. It’s not that I don’t like how she writes, but I can never relate to her characters. Her protagonist is usually a too perfect female character, and her secondary characters are usually not developed enough. This has happened again with Fledgling, with the result that I didn’t care for anyone in the book. I also found the dialogues stilted and artificial, and some of the characters seemed to change their mind without reason.
The book is also controversial, showing an almost pedophile relationship but with inverse power dynamics. I know this is a take on slavery, but this didn’t help it sit well with me. I did like Butler’s take on racism, but it wasn’t enough to redeem the rest of the book.
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My name is Elena. Since I was a little child I loved science fiction and fantasy, and I can’t resist a good novel. In 2015, while wait I started to listen to audiobooks and I discovered the pleasure in being able to read while doing my daily tasks, so there’s always an audiobook playing on my phone. If you see me with my Bluetooth headphones on, please be gentle, I get easily startled.
I live with my boyfriend, which I met during my six-year stay in Belgium, four cockatiels, eight lovebirds, and a hamster in Madrid, Spain; and I like to spend my free time knitting and sewing while listening to audiobooks.
